Sex is normal, porn is not. It often confuses people how we are told over and over again that an act is okay while a visual of that may not be. But honestly, there’s nothing much confusing about it if you understand the basic difference. Sex and porn are not the same. What you are watching in the name of “sexual act”, the pornography, is not as true as the act itself will be and when you are fed with fake scenarios, it is only obvious that it will lead you to believe it. And this belief may cause issues.
Porn has some serious effects on young minds and it is important to understand how it may affect them and their lives, before it’s too late.
Porn Shapes and Distorts the View of Sex and Intimacy
It won’t be wrong to say that we are exposed to porn way before we get to experience sex. This means that our assumptions and expectations are primarily based on pornography and not practicality. While a lot of people believe that porn teaches them how to be “good in bed”, what they don’t realise is that the porn often misguides them. It misleads them into believing what may not be true for the moment they shall experience.
Porn represents intimacy as a physical act, for obvious reasons. But it does not shed light about other aspects of love, sex, and intimacy. It distorts the view of the viewer regarding sex and intimacy. People assume that in certain moments they are supposed to behave the way it is shown in the video without realising that the recorded content is entirely fictional.
Porn can affect a child’s mental health, mindset, and memory. And not just that, it can make them ignorant to issues like objectification, misogyny, sexism, and sexual violence. Furthermore, it can even affect the way they see and talk to other people, especially the gender they are sexually inclined towards.
Porn has some serious effects on young minds and it is important to understand how it may affect them and their lives, before it’s too late.
Porn Normalizes Violence and Extremism
It is not difficult to find people who are into violence and extremism. In fact, it is extremely disheartening and unfortunate to know that porn videos that have disturbing and triggering content are most viewed and liked. While people presume that these are just “fantasies”, what they often miss is the fact that these fantasies can affect their minds. If you keep watching something over and over again with an inclination towards it, your mind is going to normalise it for you.
It might be wrong to compare one issue with another but considering how common it is in a country like India, this comparison makes absolute sense. We all know how disturbing physical violence is. If someone hits the other person, it can affect the victim miserably, yet we have normalised violence against children. We don’t see how “merely slapping a child” can traumatise them. And this is physical violence, we are a country that is least interested in discussing sexual violence.
Youth Today Is Easily Exposed to Porn at Younger Age, Thanks to Social Media
When the access is as easy as searching for explicit videos on platforms like Instagram and Twitter, it makes absolute sense why people get addicted to it. We have everything so easily available, both good and bad, yet we choose to consume content that is bad for us, without considering how and why it is bad. Young people and children watching porn don’t understand how problematic it can be for them and the only thing that is to be blamed is the lack of information. One can get access to porn through social media and Google but try finding content related to the harmful effects of pornography and it is suddenly explicit content.
It might be wrong to compare one issue with another but considering how common it is in a country like India, this comparison makes absolute sense. We all know how disturbing physical violence is. If someone hits the other person, it can affect the victim miserably, yet we have normalised violence against children. We don’t see how “merely slapping a child” can traumatise them. And this is physical violence, we are a country that is least interested in discussing sexual violence.
Conclusion
It may seem like your parents and older people suggesting you to not watch porn is because they don’t want you to find what sex is. But the truth is, you are not aware of the possible, negative effects of porn. It can completely change your mindset, your thought process, and your lifestyle. You may think it is under your control but it doesn’t take a lot of time to get things out of control.
If you are a parent, you need to understand that simply asking your child to not watch porn is not going to help anyone. You need to tell them why they shouldn’t be watching porn and how it is for their own benefit.
